Surviving
by Tierry Leoine
Summary: what would happen should Zack survive the whole ordeal and managed to get both Cloud and himself back to Midgar? will be ZackCloud ....................pssst, that means YAOI
1. Chapter 1

**Title :** Surviving (working title) (part 1/WIP)

**Author :** Tierry Leoine

**Pairing** : Zack/Cloud

**Disclaimer** : sure, they're mine. And I'm redoing the game. And the white mice are eating your keyboard right now.

**Author's Notes :** this is entirely Daughter of Night's fault. Entirely. I'm easy to bully it seems. But, she's also a wonderful person and a great beta, so all the existing mistakes are my own.

**Summary :** what would happen should Zack survive the whole ordeal and managed to get both Cloud and himself back to Midgar?

**_

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_**

**_Part 1_**

The familiar face opening the familiar door brought a wave of relief so deep his knees almost gave in under him. At least he hoped it was the relief. It also could have been the blood loss.

"Zack?"

"Hey, Aeris. Long time no see, huh?"

_In the end they shot him twice, which was not a bad score, considering the amount of bullets targeted at him, but it was still two wounds too many, even with his SOLDIER enhancements, for he was not alone in this. And that was from the sniper gun. Before that, before the open area of the road they had no chances._

_Zack ducked behind a pile of rumble, dust and pieces of concrete shooting into the air following him and setting in white smudges on his clothing, mixing with the blood to a rusty color. He cursed, as his hand got some of the soot out of his eyes. Now they had done it. Irritated at being held back from gathering his companion by simple troopers, who did NOT have the training to stop a lowest Soldier, not to mention one very determine 1st Class Soldier prodigy, Zack found himself a weapon._

_He was too fast for them to react properly and in time, too quiet, so once he got to the first trooper and his gun, it was over. The gun he got on the first one, after a simple kick to the head, proved much more effective in his hands, disabling the men fast. Hopefully fast enough._

_A lone trooper was guarding Cloud, apparently unable to lift the sword, holding the comatose man between the forged metal and the pillar. Really. Such carelessness. What if someone, he for example, came and simply knocked the man out? They would be free to go._

"_Hey, Cloud, you alright? Sorry, I had to leave for a moment. We can go now." He lifted the sword back and sheathed in into the harness._

_ShinRa would not get them, not while he still breathed. And they should have known better than to send a team of badly equipped troopers to do a Soldier's job. They forgot what they taught him themselves. Never underestimate the enemy. _

_Zack smiled bitterly._

"_Come on, buddy, we've gotta go."_

_The bike ride was fun while it lasted, as he sped, pushing the uniform machine to its limits and beyond until he stopped noticing the smell of burned rubber and the heat of the engine. Until the fuel ran out._

The surroundings and the calm atmosphere, the sweet smell of flowers greeted him well, almost as if he was coming home. It gave hope of everything being alright again.

_They hit the road soon after, hoping for the miracle of a vehicle passing by. He did not care much about the danger he might be putting the civilian in. After all, he was pretty positive ShinRa lost their trace for a little while at the very least._

_Lady Luck must have been on their side since the beginning, as Zack managed to convince a passing driver to give them a ride. Somehow. They did not really look THAT trustworthy, but the Soldier was not going to complain about the lack of suspicion from the man, who was helping. _

_The men found themselves on the back of an old truck, heading to Midgar through the deserted, dry lands in the full morning sun. With the wind in their hair it felt almost as if they were truly free men._

_The old man, when asked what Zack could do for a living, said they could do anything. Anything, while they were still young. And Zack, despite having lost time in that damn basement, was young, his companion painfully so. And they would need money. _

"_Let's run a business together, Cloud," he decided, turning his face to the bright sun. "We'll be mercenaries." His wishful thinking that Cloud would finally respond to a jibe was getting him nowhere at the moment, but he hoped. He still hoped. _

_The road was endless in the back, just plain, brown and red rock formations, dust blowing in the hot air. Zack was tired of this landscape, so he turned to the driver, leaning over the cabin of the truck._

"_Old man, are we there yet?" he asked._

_It was pure instinct that saved them, from Zack noticing the sun reflecting on something high on a slope to his covering of the unconscious Cloud. The bullet grazed his side then._

He smiled at her faintly, as she took in his appearance, the make-shift bandages, the unconscious blonde he was supporting and opened the door wider.

"Come in, Zack." She offered him a sanctuary, allowed him to keep his promise, even if she did not fully realize it.

_The ride ended soon after with the man unwilling to risk his life for them. Giving a ride to two complete strangers was one thing, but now with bullets flying it was something completely different. It was business. _

_Midgar was visible then, not far, but not close enough for them either. And they had to use stealth to get into the city. _

_Zack decided, while looking for a good path to the city, while not staying in the open, that his luck was rotten after all. And getting to the gates later with another bullet embedded, this one in his thigh, only strengthened that opinion._

The inside of the house was just as pleasantly unchanged and the exterior. He breathed in deeply there, the tension leaving his body along with the last reserves of energy. He slid to the floor, Cloud still in his arms, a faint smile on his face. They made it after all.

_He patched his shoulder as quickly as he could in the circumstances, but the graze__ on his side would have to wait to get a better treatment than a scrap of cotton over it. The Restore materia, that he had found by one of the troopers was not advanced enough for this, only temporarily slowing down the bleeding. _

_Trekking to Sector 5 proved to be a little tricky, since Zack really did not look inconspicuous with his Buster Sword ,bloody arm and a comatose friend on his arm. Perhaps the blonde he had been carrying looked more like he was unconscious, but nevertheless it did not look good even in slums. _

_He found the house easily enough, for the slums had not changed much over the years. They were as poor, dirty and dusty as he remembered from his ventures into the city while he had still been in ShinRa's employment._

_As he walked through the passage, the sweet and heavy smell, that hit his nostrils made him relax slightly, breathe in the air and hope with it._

"_We made it, Cloud. We really made it." He grinned at his friend, who stared back, unblinkingly. _

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hope you liked it. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**_FIC : Surviving  
_Title :** Surviving (working title) (part 1/WIP)  
**Author :** Tierry Leoine  
**Pairing :** Zack/Cloud  
**Disclaimer :** sure, they're mine. And I'm redoing the game. And the white mice are eating your keyboard right now.  
**Author's Notes :** this is entirely Daughter of Night's fault. Entirely. I'm easy to bully it seems. But, she's also a wonderful person and a great beta, so all the existing mistakes are my own.

**Summary :** what would happen should Zack survive the whole ordeal and managed to get both Cloud and himself back to Midgar?

* * *

Zack woke up feeling warm and comfortable. The feeling confused him, since he had not really been warm and comfortable for a very long time. Opening his eyes, the man saw light and gold, only after a moment remembering with whom and where he was. 

The ex-Soldier sat up, trying to be careful and not disturb the blonde sleeping beside him. He'd taken to sleeping with Cloud in one bed after a night when the younger man, in one of his more lucid states, ventured downstairs and then into the garden, somehow managing to not wake up Aeris sleeping in the other room, nor him, sleeping downstairs on a mattress.

They found him in the morning, lying in the bed of flowers, staring unseeingly at the rising sun.

Then after a night, when his stitches opened, he got fed up and, really, it wasn't like he did no sleep with the blonde in one bed during their escape.

Now, after so long a time, he knew all the indicators for Cloud's comatose state. Even if his mind was often, almost always, not there, Zack learned the signs given by the body very fast, always in hope he would see something new, something changing. So far there was nothing. So far, in the rare few and far between moments of depression, he still felt like taking care of a breathing doll that used to be his friend.

Leaving Cloud peacefully sleeping peacefully, Zack closed the door behind him. As he descended a smell of food greeted him, causing his neglected stomach to grumble loudly. Soldiers could go on without eating longer than normal humans, but they did not enjoy the experience either.

--

_Aeris sent him upstairs, to use the second room, if he wanted, since it was the middle of the day. Yet Zack, despite his body demanding rest, preferably long and peaceful sleep, was feeling restless on the soft, inviting bed, even with his leg and shoulder aching, tingling with the speeding healing process. _

_Not being able to sleep, the ex-Soldier ventured to the other room, as watching Cloud was preferable to watching paint dry on the ceiling. Watching Cloud was generally preferable._

_Zack found himself opening the door softly, since he had already learned, that sudden and unexpectedly loud noises disturbed his younger friend. Somehow he could tell that easily. His host looked at him then, from her position on a chair by the bed._

"_Can't sleep." He shrugged, before Aeris had a chance to ask._

"_He's restless too." The girl rose and Zack did not ask how she knew. "But I'm not sure if it's a good thing." She glanced at the blonde, whose empty stare was the same still, even if two fingers in his left hand seemed to be twitching slightly. They both started at the small, but, oh so significant move. It could, Zack sobered up, just as well mean everything as nothing. He knew._

"_I'll be downstairs." _

_The ex-Soldier nodded absently, taking the vacated seat. The blonde bangs obscured somewhat the blue, glowing eyes and the calloused fingers carefully removed them._

"_Oh, man." A heavy sigh in the air was the only sign of the overwhelming exhaustion. "Scoot over Cloud. We're going to sleep in a real bed. I can still barely believe we're here."_

_Zack moved Cloud a bit, turning him to a side, crawling onto the bed before he passed out on the floor again. Sleep came immediately, so he missed blue irises vanishing behind eyelids._

_--_

The ex-Soldier walked the slums unbothered and he was glad for it. Even without Buster Sword, something that attracted too much unwanted attention, there still was something in his step that told everyone he was not to be trifled with.

"_Come." His host smiled the angelic smile at him, "I've made some dinner. How's Cloud?"_

_Zack just shook his head, keeping eyes on the plate set in front of him. He would rather not see the look of pity in her soft, green eyes. Instead the young man concentrated in eating. The food was gone within moments and Zack had to look up and smile tentatively, sheepishly at Aeris._

"_I guess I was hungry."_

_Aeris just laughed quietly._

"_Yes, I think so too."_

"_Where's your mother?" Zack remembered her not being overtly fond of him and his association with ShinRa._

"_She left for Kalm for a few days, don't worry." Now she would probably like him even less, especially with a comatose companion in tow appearing after Shiva knew how many years with Ramuh knew how many troubles. _

_The ex-Soldier sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. The girl seated in front of him was truly a treasure and, not for the first time, he felt truly hap y that he met her then, falling through that roof._

"_I guess it's time for the story." _

_Aeris nodded._

"_I never thought much about what I'm going to do in Midgar once we come back. I just knew I had to get here. It's the easiest place to disappear in and with Cloud in this state…I could not let them take him back there. Not over my dead body. And still, I can't help him. You were the first to enter my mind…" Frustration and helplessness rang clearly in his normally cheerful, vibrant voice._

"_What happened? Beside the mako."_

_Zack carefully, painfully started weaving the story, trying to make sense of his jumbled memory. His companion did not say a word, merely watched him with soft green eyes and somehow that look made it a fraction easier to bear. When he got to the screams that haunted him in the tank when Hojo was busy with Cloud, she did not say a word either, only got up and brought a bottle of whiskey and a glass to the table. A very generous amount of it soon found its way to his stomach._

"_By all the Summons, I needed this," he said as he fought a slight cough, having gotten unused to the burning feel of the alcohol._

"_I thought you would."_

_Slowly, he continued, only sliding over the experiments, the basement of ShinRa mansion and the needles, knives. Apparently it was still more enough for her. Or maybe Aeris simply saw the haunted look he sometimes had and decided not to press him for anything. She did not interrupt, only refilled the glass twice._

_The burn of the whiskey in his throat, the numbing it provided for a few precious seconds were a blessing then, just like the Mako-enhancements making it impossible for him to get drunk easily were a curse._

"_Stay here. As long as you need to," she said in the end. "Until you at the very least get back on your feet."_

"_Aeris…"_

_--_

Zack found himself walking from bar to bar, from one seedy joint to another, talking to the bartenders, civilians, looking for a job. He remembered getting offers while he was still part of the military and it could not have changed so much. He hoped it did not.

They needed money, no matter what Aeris said about them being welcome there for as long as they needed. Zack knew they needed money if only to help Aeris and move out. It was a must, since the girl's mother would be back soon and it was highly doubtful she would be happy about seeing Zack again, much less with company. Two Shinra ex-employees were probably too much for her, since one was more than enough.

"_No," she interrupted before he even truly began, "No. Neither of you is in a shape to travel right now. And I can help, as much as I can, with Cloud. At least until he wakes up."_

_No words could or would convey his gratitude, so he decided to hug her close instead, the warmth of her body inviting, comforting and familiar despite the years, just like the flower-smelling hair was._

"_Thank you," he mumbled to her red ribbon._

"_I told you Zack, haven't I? Always." He felt her smile against his chest and then lift her head to look at the soldier with encouragement. Zack wondered how she could do that, "Go and rest now."_

_--_

Sectors 4 and 6 proved unhelpful so far, so Zack decided to try his changing luck in sector 7. This one had changed the most during his absence from Midgar.

The steps squeaked as he stepped on them. 7th Heaven was definitely a new addition to the landscape.

People looked up, when he entered surveying the place with glowing violet-blue eyes. Only two tables were taken and the drinkers turned back almost immediately upon sizing up the newcomer. The bar was empty and it suited him just fine.

--

_Zack had worked out a small routine during their three-day stay at Aeris' house. He would wake up, feeling warm, tense at the unknown surroundings and then relax again as soon as the smell of flowers reached him through the thick blonde hair he always seemed to have in his nose. They were safe. At least for the time being they were safe._

_His ex-girlfriend's healing abilities surprised him, as after this short period he was almost healed and how she handled his wounds had been much better than whatever he could come up with._

_Zack would then stretch and watch his companion's eyes slowly flutter open. Then he would exhale the breath he did not know he was holding. No matter how often would that happen, how many times he watched this, there was always hope that this time those eyes would not open vacant._

"_Good morning Cloud. Slept well? I hope I don't snore too loudly. You would tell me, right?"_

_He helped his friend get dressed, even if it was Zack who did all the work, he tried not to think of it in those categories. _

"_Come on, my friend. Aeris is already awake by the sound of it," he could hear her pot-banging in the kitchen area, "and making breakfast. Real breakfast, Cloud! Oh, man, I still cannot get used to that. Can't blame me though. First there were Shinra military rations and then that…whatever it was that they kept feeding us."_

_--_

Zack sat down on a stool and smiled at the barmaid, before he even really looked at her. Then that smile faltered a bit, when he saw her. Really saw her and what was worse, recognized her. Black hair, brown eyes and considerable bust, the leather gloves on her hands, it all matched.

She looked at him as well, blinking rapidly in complete surprise before recovering.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Whiskey." He had not planned on drinking, but hell, he felt justified right then. She was a ghost from the past, maybe not an unwelcome one, but a ghost nonetheless, one that could ask him some very uncomfortable questions as well.

She poured him the alcohol with slightly shaking hands. That was no wonder. Last time they saw each other was not set in the best of circumstances. Still, he was glad she was alright and that Zangan helped her escape from that hell.

"Zack?" she asked softly placing the glass in front of the mercenary and he nodded.

"Yeah. It's good to see you, Tifa." The girl nodded again, smiling a little in response to his own tentative smile.

"You too. What brings you here?"

A flood of relief washed over Zack as he realized Tifa did not know anything about the completely burnt down and then reconstructed Nibelheim, about what happened later. And yet she was standing here, a perfect resemblance of how she looked then, only five years older. It was bizarre in a way, that the world was ignorant of their small tragedy. It also made him realize the extent of Shinra's power.

"Work. Or rather lack thereof."

"You're not with…"

"No," he interrupted, cautious over who might hear them, "Not for years now."

"Since…"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Tifa paused for a moment. "Right."

Zack looked at her, sensing the hesitation.

"Actually, I may know of some work, if you're interested in doing the boring mercenary stuff." The ex-Soldier nodded. It was the quickest way to make money for a decent living in the slums. A little unsafe, but he had been a damned Soldier and retained the build of one, for Shiva's sake. "Great. Can you swing by tomorrow? I need to check if they're still looking."

"Sure." He finished his drink and left, when Tifa told him it was on the house.

"It was really nice seeing you," she said and Zack felt her eyes follow him to the door.

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i hope you liked this :) reviews would be wonderful.

cheers,

Tierry


	3. Chapter 3

**Title :** Surviving (working title) (part 1/WIP)

**Author :** Tierry Leoine

**Pairing** : Zack/Cloud

**Disclaimer** : sure, they're mine. And I'm redoing the game. And the white mice are eating your keyboard right now.

**Author's Notes :** this is entirely Daughter of Night's fault. Entirely. I'm easy to bully it seems. But, she's also a wonderful person and a great beta, so all the existing mistakes are my own.

**Summary :** what would happen should Zack survive the whole ordeal and managed to get both Cloud and himself back to Midgar?

No Vincents were hurt during the creation of this part.

* * *

Back in Sector 7, in 7th Heaven Zack analyzed the situation. He had made a venture into the reactor, into Shinra territory and came back safely. There was little chance of him being recognized as a fugitive, he decided, since the experiments were kept a secret. They must have put Zack in as officially dead, if only Turks and troopers were sent in after them. Otherwise he would have had Soldiers on his neck as well – and there had been none.

It had been a smart move, since there were few enough of them to raise questions, if Zack were to be recognized by someone he had worked with. And Soldiers always presented themselves to the outer world, Shinra included, as a whole, a united front.

--

_The afternoon he spent with Cloud, sitting in the garden, soaking up the sun he had missed for so long, something so rare under the plate. His friend was not really responding to anything, but Zack helped him sit in a way that had him facing the warm light. It could also be Zack's wishful thinking, but he thought Cloud was leaning a little into it. _

_He wondered if he should bring Tifa here, if the girl's presence would help Cloud recover. Maybe he would respond stronger to his childhood love than he had to Aeris or Zack himself. Maybe. For even with the incident of Cloud walking, or more like sleep-walking into the garden by himself, the blonde's state did not change much. Their host kept telling him to be patient since Cloud's mere survival was a good sign and his moving around hinted strongly at coming improvement._

"_I saw your girl today. She's really something, you know? A barmaid in sector 7. I'm glad she's alright. Want to go see her?"_

_Cloud kept his face turned towards the sun._

_--_

Coming back from the plate had been simple enough, not counting the nuisance of a few troopers trying to catch him. The ex-Soldier decided with a certain amount of pride and satisfaction, that Cloud had been better in his trooper days, even before Zack had started to tutoring him. Hell, otherwise he would not have been chosen to go with them for the Nibelheim mission.

In the train back Jessie tried to make a move on him, using the ID scan as an excuse. Zack sighed then. Normally, five years ago, that would have been his cue to move in, especially since Jessie was cute. But it was a wonder what the knowledge of a comatose friend waiting nearby in an ex-girlfriend's house could do.

-

_Zack found himself back at 7th Heaven in the evening, wondering just what kind of job Tifa or her friends could have for him. Aeris had no idea either, but it did not matter much in the long run as long as he got the money he needed and did not have to fight Soldiers._

_Upon entering the bar, he found just one table occupied by three people. His over-trained mind immediately classified them as posing no threat to him. Only one could hold his own for maybe a moment or two, but they were all civilians. Nothing to worry about. Zack knew very well how wide the gap between the Soldiers and normal people was. _

"_Zack." Tifa appeared from the back, "You came." She smiled._

_-_

He wanted to shrug it off, but refrained, smiling instead at the woman. It was not like he really had a choice, if he wanted a job.

-

_A man stepped behind Tifa, tall and broad-shouldered, with dark skin and a gun instead of his right arm. Assessing this man, his stance and the way he looked at Zack made him the group's leader in the ex- Soldier's eyes._

"_Zack, this is Barrett. He may have work for you."_

_The men kept sizing each other up._

"_You're a mercenary?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_You know how to fight? Use a gun, a weapon?"_

"_Yeah. I've worked for ShinRa for a few years."_

"_Oh, yeah?"_

"_Yeah." Zack kept looking at the man calmly._

_The interrogation lasted this short, but the black haired man knew this was not the end of things. Still, he was told that Barrett and his group of fighters for the planet, Avalanche, whom Zack would plainly call terrorists, was planning to do. They wanted to blow up a Mako reactor. It was not going to be easy, but flashy and it was for the planet and around that time Zack stopped really listening, only hearing every other word. What he really wanted to settle then was his price._

_Barrett kept looking at him suspiciously, when he finally managed to mention the issue._

"_How much?"_

"_Two thousand," Zack replied immediately without batting an eyelash._

"_Wha…?! No fuckin' way." _

"_Zack…" Tifa looked at him pleadingly, but he merely smiled apologetically. He needed the money and knew his worth. And, what was more important, Cloud needed the money._

"_Fine. One thousand five hundred. My last word."_

_Barrett, judging from the steady flow of curses he mumbled under his breath and the glare he kept pointed at Zack was not happy with this number either. _

"_Fine," the huge man said. "But you'd better be worth every Odin damned gil!"_

_Zack merely nodded. It was still more than he expected to get to in the end._

"_Come back tomorrow, kid. We meet at the station at 7 sharp. Do NOT be late." _

"_Sure, sure. I get it. I was in the military, you know?" Zack mock saluted._

_-_

"Have a place to stay?" Tifa asked, placing a drink in front of him.

"Yeah." He ran his hand over his spiky hair, " But it's temporary. I need to find something."

"You could always stay here." She offered and continued on, when Zack was shaking his head slowly, "I know that Barrett sometimes snores and that with Marlene here it might not be very easy, but it's always a safe corner."

"Don't get me wrong, Tifa, but this is really just a job for me. I don't want to get involved. But if you hear about some place I could move into, I'd appreciate it." He would really rather not explain why exactly he did not want to take her up on her offer. Well, he could always say he was living with someone and wanted to move in together, which was technically true.

She nodded and kept silent.

-

_That day, as Aeris informed him, Cloud got down, on his own again, mumbling something softly, incoherently directing himself at Sector 6. Somehow, mainly thanks to his still lacking awareness she managed to keep him in the house._

_Zack was glad for that, since he did not want to imagine what would happen with Cloud, blonde, young and doe-eyed Cloud in there, so close to the Wall Market and Don Corneo._

_In the evening, when he looked at Cloud sitting there against the pillows where Zack placed him, eyes vacant, the older man suddenly felt tired, very tired and old. These were unfamiliar feelings, something that did not even reach him in the labs. Yet, here they were, already residing in Midgar for a few days, with more and more time passing since their escape from Nibelheim and Hojo and Zack had a nagging, returning thought that he had been too late in his rescue. That Cloud would remain as he was, not responding to anything or anyone except for brief intervals of something akin to lunacy._

_He had shared the news of work with Aeris before carrying Cloud up the stairs, which was much less of a bother than trying to make him go himself, as he had learned during their escape. The girl needed information in case she wanted or had to seek him out. The flower girl did not express any worry outwardly, saying she wished him good luck, even if she knew he would not need it._

_-_

"Zack?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you meet someone called Cloud in Shinra?"

"Cloud?" he repeated dumbly.

"Cloud Strife." Tifa sat down, twisting a glove in her hands. "I…I knew him back home. He left 7 years ago to join Soldier. I thought…" she shook her head, "I know it's silly, but I hoped you heard about him or maybe even knew him."

Shit. Shit. Shit.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

* * *

I hope You liked it! Reviews would be wonderful! 


	4. Chapter 4

**Title :** Surviving (part 4/20??)

**Author :** Tierry Leoine

**Pairing** : Zack/Cloud

**Disclaimer** : sure, they're mine. And I'm redoing the game. And the white mice are eating your keyboard right now.

**Warning : **AU, possible yaoi, vioelnce, personality issues

**Author's Notes :** this is entirely Daughter of Night's fault. Entirely. I'm easy to bully it seems. But, she's also a wonderful person and a great beta, so all the existing mistakes are my own.

**C&C :** alwyas welcome, in any given form. i don't bite...usually.

**Thanks :** To the one and only and wonderful Daughter of Night, who bullies me into writing this and all the people, who cared enough, liked this enough to review! Thanks! I really apperciate it.

**Summary :** what would happen should Zack survive the whole ordeal and managed to get both Cloud and himself back to Midgar?

* * *

This had a real sense of déjà vu, he decided, lying there on the hard floor, staring at the whole in the ceiling. It really did. The setting lacked only a pretty girl looming over him and everything would be perfect. But there were none so far, as Zack managed to assess from his point of view on the wooden boards.

Really, who would have guessed….

-

"_I met him in ShinRa." Zack decided a little truth would not hurt and might even help. He was still distrustful of Tifa's friends, whom he himself would call terrorists instead of planet protectors. And people changed. They really changed over years and he never knew much about the girl to begin with except for the besotted stories of his young friend._

"_You did?"_

"_Yeah. He was a trooper when I met him. But that, as you can imagine, was years ago."_

"_How was he?" She sounded more like his mother to Zack than a past girlfriend._

"_Good, I guess. A little shy, barely talking, but talented."_

_Tifa smiled._

"_I'm glad."_

_Zack looked around then, hoping for Barrett to appear to save him from going further in this conversation and for once whatever higher powers there are actually decided to humour him. The heavy steps accompanied by a few shots and curses, followed by a bang of the door against the wall announced Barrett's arrival. _

_Inside the man glared around at everything, glared at Zack in particular and moved between the tables to the back door. Tifa shrugged when the Soldier looked at her._

_The leader of Avalanche returned with a small girl in tow._

"_Marlene, this is Zack. Why don't you say hello?" Tifa smiled at her, motioning to the mercenary and Zack tried hard to make himself look children-friendly. Apparently he had failed, since Marlene only hid herself behind her father's leg._

"_Hi." He smiled, but Marlene refused to budge. Perhaps his smile worked only with ladies some fifteen years older. Sighing, Zack took out the mangled flower he got from Aeris and offered it. "I'm Zack."_

"_For me?" _

_Zack nodded, still smiling. The girl, encouraged by a small nudge from Tifa, took the flower._

"_It's lovely." The young woman gushed, "Where did you get it?"_

"_I met a flowergirl." Half-truths were his specialty it seemed. _

"_Barrett, about…" He wanted go back home, to see how Aeris was faring with Cloud and instead he was wasting time here._

"_If it's about the money, save it." He growled and threw Zack his gil._

"_We'll have a new job tomorrow," Tifa said, "And I'm going with you this time."_

"_Fine." Zack nodded, "But this time it'll cost ya two thousand."_

"_WHA?!" Barrett's fists swung in the air, mouth kept mumbling curses, mindful of Marlene standing there, until Tifa pulled him to a side. She was clearly underestimating the Mako-enhanced hearing, if she thought Zack would not hear her reminding Barrett how desperately they needed help._

"_Fine." Zack got a growl of agreement and was almost out of there before mock-saluting._

"_See ya tomorrow!"_

_-_

Zack groaned and tried moving his fingers experimentally. Nothing seemed to be broken. The roof and then the flowers apparently softened his fall. Again.

He still had all the materia he had purchased that afternoon, knowing it would come in handy. It always did. Zack had also found a hide-out then, a small place near the wall, close enough to Aeris and her church, that she could always visit without endangering herself too much. The owner said they could move in in two days.

That day had definitely ended in some brighter colors.

-

_The evening he had spent with a restless Cloud, who kept mumbling incoherently. Even Aeris had not been able to soothe him._

_His friend only calmed down, when they were going to sleep._

"_Tomorrow's a day too, right, my friend?" Zack smiled at Cloud, who kept staring at a point behind the Soldier's left shoulder. Perhaps tomorrow…_

_-_

Then again, Zack decided, this whole day had a sense of déjà vu. From the very beginning of the mission with its plan, the reactor, the goal, it was really the same except for Tifa accompanying them. She had been a surprisingly good fighter, fast and nimble, if vulnerable to stronger attacks.

Setting the bomb took a moment, then they were out of there, wanting to exit the reactor before detection. They failed and Zack had aching muscles to prove it.

-

_They were rounded up on the narrow bridge between the reactor and the entrance to it. Zack did not need his knowledge of tactics to know they were surrounded, trapped. _

_Shit. He really had hoped that no security device caught him and that Jessie's IDs were good enough for the scanner._

_Apparently, he decided looking at the troopers blocking their escape, not good enough._

"_What the hell is this?" Barrett was fuming and Zack's hand itched to grab the hilt of his Buster Sword. But as far as his happy-go-lucky attitude went, the mercenary was not keen on seeing how good exactly his companions were with dodging bullets._

_He heard the helicopter somewhere above them and cursed. This could mean Turks. And Turks meant trouble. But then he concentrated on the man coming out of the reactor._

_-_

There had been no mistaking the man, his height, the blonde reclining hair, the red suit. The president was there and Zack once again had to wonder on his luck of having never anything to do with the man. Wonder what about a nice fall could make someone think.

-

_Old training, hardwired into his brain years ago by hours of drills, made Zack want to salute to the man. He refrained, since one, there was no reason to draw attention to himself and two, the man was scum, who had ordered or at least allowed what happened to Cloud. And, he decided glancing sideways, it was better to leave pointless talk to Barrett. _

_The ex-Soldier concentrated instead on the raising noise, wondering what his previous employer had come up with this time._

"_This is the newest project of Shinra Inc. Meet the new Soldier." The president sounded very proud and Zack's eyes widened until he saw the source of the noise. A huge robot thundered in, Tifa and Barrett barely evading it, plastered to the handrails._

"_Is this a Soldier?!"_

"_No. It's a machine." The robot cut off Barrett's charge at the president, who was currently making his escape. Behind the glass of the helicopter Zack saw a young blonde girl in Turk's usual attire._

_Still, the moment the copter flew away, Zack had other things to worry about than the president and Turks recruiting. The robot charged again, cutting both Tifa and Barrett effectively off the exit._

"_Shit." Zack cursed. It was time to get a little creative._

_-_

Now that he thought about it, this really did not seem like his day at all, déjà vu aside. From the very morning, when Aeris burnt pancakes and Cloud seemed more resistant that usually in his completely passive, uncooperative way. And it had been even more annoying that Zack could not really blame his friend for that.

-

"_Zack!" Tifa called._

"_Fight it! Damage it as much as you can!" Zack decided trying out his newly purchased materia would be a hood idea around now, as he summoned a bolt to strike the metal thing._

_He kept hearing the bullets Barrett was aiming at the thing and Tifa frying a few of the cables with her fire spell. But as the man was reloading and Tifa suspended in the transit time before she could use another spell, the robot retaliated, hitting Barrett with one iron fist, while using the back cannon to shoot at Zack._

_//Tough chance, tin can.//_

_The ex-Soldier used his wide blade as a shield against the bullets as he kept coming closer. After a series, he flipped the sword, the sharp and heavy blade easily cutting through the metal around the gun. Zack jumped back, as the machine started turning, slashing at its outstretched hand. The girl cut in then with the next fire and moments later Barrett resumed shooting._

_The robot turned again, in want of eliminating the potential threat, allowing Zack to attack again, this time with a little more strength and a little less finesse. The sword drew an arc in the air before falling at the rear gun and damaging it with its mere weight. The additional flick and push did not hurt either. Sparks flew, illuminating the smile on Zack's face._

_-_

That blasted thing had to have been Scarlet's invention. A mechanic soldier, yeah right. She had always been jealous of the budget they got and how it was 'wasted on a merry band of men, who have too much time, while she could create new weapons kyahahaha'.

And what a damned pain in the ass it had been. First to defeat it with half-civilians in the way, for it was still hard to consider Avalanche anything else, and then the blasted explosion.

-

"_Keep shooting," he told Barrett, as he jumped back again, aiming another bolt at the robot, which hit moments after Tifa's grenade._

_The dents and flying sparks showed considerable damage had been done to the robot, but not enough to slow it down or for the machinery to cease working. It was still able to attack them – attack Tifa to be precise._

_The young woman flew against the handrails, pale and bloodied. Zack cursed and changed the spell he was about to use from Lightning to Restore and targeted the cure on the girl._

"_Thanks." The relief was obvious in her voice, as Tifa got up just to charge the robot at full speed and attack him with her newly restored strength. The melee attacks often managed to find the delicate pieces of machinery peeking from under the heavy armor. Finishing with an impressive kick, Tifa jumped back to allow Barrett the next go at the robot._

_The mercenary attacked then, hacking a piece of armor away, the metal notwithstanding the strength leading the huge sword. Backing out he prepared the next spell to damage the insides and cables sticking out._

"_The hell is with this thing?" Barrett was reloading, when he got hit with a metal arm flung at him. A potion later the angered man prepared a full-scale attack and while he was doing that Zack decided that some diversion was definitely in order here. He let the bolt loose. It connected moments before Barrett's fireball did._

_Sparks flew._

"_Let's wrap this up, shall we?" Zack smiled to himself. The Braver he used had three streams of energy. With all of them hitting the mark, the robot finally malfunctioned, turning around and flailing it's arms. _

_The mercenary had a bad feeling about this back and forth movement. His hunch proved true the moment the thing exploded in a ball of fire and bolts, taking piece of the bridge with it._

"_Shit." Zack cursed again, as he was hanging, holding on to a piece of the metal sticking out from the concrete. He looked up at Tifa and Barrett trying to reach out to him. No good._

"_Go."_

"_Zack?" Tifa asked wide-eyes, trying to reach for him._

"_Go," he repeated looking at Barrett, who nodded in understanding, "before the security comes."_

"_Yeah. Good luck kid." Zack nodded with a tight smile. Then he let go of the wire before the reactor exploded in a world of fire and mako green._

_-_

Zack groaned and moved finally, slowly sitting up.

"Oh, man." He winced looking at his dusty, slightly torn clothing. "And Aeris barely managed to sew it all together." He mumbled.

Hearing footsteps, the ex-Soldier looked up and promptly saw a navy suit, red hair and a flapping jacket – all were attributes of someone he was well familiar with. Reno of the Turks.

The said man faltered in his step, when he saw Zack. Behind Reno, the mercenary could see three troopers, warily looking at Zack, the debris abound him and his dust-covered clothes.

"Yo, I know you."

Zack smiled, even if he did not really feel happy. It was not a very nice smile.

"Yeah, you do, yo."

The troopers took a cautious step forward, unsure of how to react. Zack fought the urge to shout "Booo!" at them.

"Fancy meeting you here."

"Fell from Heaven."

"Funny, yo." Reno was smiling.

"Ain't it?"

"Don't take this personally, yo, but I really hoped you'd stay dead."

"Nah." Zack waved his hand dismissingly as he got up from the ground. "Where would the fun in that be? Besides, it's all water under the bridge right?"

"Sure." Reno started advancing just as Zack kept backing slowly towards the door. "There's just one detail."

"Yeah?"

Reno nodded, drawing out his EMR.

"I still have orders, yo."

Zack did not say anything, an event unusual in it's own right. Instead he turned and ran, hoping these troopers were as bad at target shooting as the one he encountered the last time. He also knew Aeris would have his head, if he let those people ruin her flowers. And she would know.

"Yo, where the hell to, dude?!"

Zack sprinted into the next room and then up the stairs, followed closely by badly aimed bullets fired by the troopers, who seemed to shoot better when not facing a Soldier directly. But Zack had practice.

Up under the ceiling, Zack played bowling using old barrels and said troopers, having too much fun, he decided, for someone being chased.

"Hit." He grinned as the last trooper fell under pieces of wood. "See ya, Reno!" Zack shouted, before sprinting further on the beam towards the whole in the roof.

The ex-Soldier kept running over roofs, jumping from one onto another, just to get further and further away as quickly as possible. Of course he just had to encounter Turks at the end of this glorious day. The perfect finishing accent, really.

He had to go back to the house, knowing that, despite everything that happened, it was not him that Reno was looking for in that church. And they could just as well know where Aeris lived. With Cloud under her care.

Zack sped up.

* * *

ummm...runs off...

Hope you liked it!


	5. Chapter 5

**Title :** Surviving (part 5/20??)

**Author :** Tierry Leoine

**Pairing** : Zack/Cloud

**Disclaimer** : sure, they're mine. And I'm redoing the game. And the white mice are eating your keyboard right now.

**Author's Notes :** this is entirely Daughter of Night's fault. Entirely. I'm easy to bully it seems. But, she's also a wonderful person and a great beta, so all the existing mistakes are my own.

**C&C :** alwyas welcome, in any given form. i don't bite...usually.

**Thanks :** To the one and only and wonderful Daughter of Night, who bullies me into writing this and all the people, who cared enough, liked this enough to review! Thanks! I really apperciate it. And many, many, many thanks to Ookami Kasumi, for the great help in solving problems and such interesting correspondence! Without You I would probably have much more trouble writing this chapter. Thank You!

**Warning : **since my wonderful beta is solving some problems of her right now, this chapter is not beta-read. I hope there aren't many glaring mistakes there, but if there and they will make you cringe, my sincere apologies.

**Summary :** what would happen should Zack survive the whole ordeal and managed to get both Cloud and himself back to Midgar?

_No Vincents were hurt during the writing of this part either despite numerous threats._

* * *

Zack stopped short, when he saw Aeris pitting on a slide, in a deserted playground in between sectors. What surprised him was not the presence of the girl, for Shiva knew she could take care of herself, but the person sitting next to her, looking at Zack with wide, surprised, **clear** eyes.

-

_Aeris was sitting with Cloud outside as he seemed to prefer it to__ being inside. They were perched in the upper part of the garden, flowers surrounding them, cloaking them with the sweet smell and a feeling of nature and life so rare in this city. Underneath were the bales holding the slide of the earth and a container she used to gather what rainwater would fall. Sometimes it even came useful._

_Her companion had been restless that day, anxious. The emotion reached her, made her careless. That was probably why she had not heard the footsteps earlier. _

_On the other hand it could have been part of the Turk's training, she decided, looking Tseng in the eye, for the steps of the troopers following him were clear and loud in the otherwise silent garden._

_"Aeris."_

_"Tseng," she greeted him, getting up and stepping in front of Cloud. The man's eyes traveled to the blonde for a flickering moment, before focusing back on her._

_Specimen B code C was supposed to be left alone due to his diminishing consciousness. And if Aeris had him, it probably meant she found him somewhere near. She had always had a penchant for birds with broken wings._

_"I see you still take injured birds in."_

_"I found him at the outskirts, half-alive."_

_"Is that so?"_

"_Yes." She knew she did not lie very convincingly, but she could not allow Tseng to get a wisp of suspicion about Zack being alive either._

"_I see." Tseng kept his dark eyes on her, "Never mind that then. I would like for you to go with us."_

_Aeris shook her head, having anticipated the question. _

"_I can't." She took a step back. Cloud sat there, within the flowers, unmoving, being such an easy target for the troopers, who accompanied the Turk._

"_Please." Tseng took a step back as well, motioning for one of the troopers to come closer. Flowers vanished under his heavy boots._

"_No." Aeris shook her head. She could not count on Zack to suddenly appear. He was somewhere in Midgar doing a job he was hired for and at the moment it was safer for him there, wherever he was, than here._

_The trooper made a move to grab her arm, but the flower girl twisted away. When the set of hands reached again she evaded mid-turn, causing her to losing her balance and land with a short yelp next to Cloud. Tseng just observed, not making a move._

_The second trooper, apparently encouraged, came up nudging the unconscious blonde with the point of his rifle._

"_What are we gonna do with this one, boss?"_

_"Leave him."_

_Aeris glared, her green eyes ablaze, reaching for the young man, to draw him closer to herself, further from the edge of the ledge, where she'd sat him with his legs dangling down. Yet, the next nudge from the overeager man sent Cloud sprawling backwards, his hand slipping from Aeris' loose hold. "Cloud!"_

_She scrambled after him, ripping her arm from the sudden, unexpected and completely unwelcome grip of Tseng's hand. The man did not resist, letting her go, watching the catatonic body fall below, straight into the container__ of water._

_-_

**_Warm, warm feeling. Warm happy voice. Mother? It's so nice, warm. Can I stay? _**

**_Zack? I lost you… I lost Zack's voice? I lost Zack's voice. It's always around. It should be here too. And the warmth. It's warm, but Zack's voice is warmer. Zack? Where is Zack's voice? Warmer and gentler voice. Zack?_**

**_Why hurt? Where is Zack? What is it? Why is mother screaming? Not a nice sound. I like nice sounds. Zack…leave….hey….wha?_**

**_What is this… liquid?!_**

**_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not tank, not the tank, please, please, not the tank no, no, no, no, no, please, please not into the tank, don't put me there, please, please, no, no, no, no, no, please, please no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not the tank, please, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!_**

_-_

_Aeris jumped down, her skirt slightly hindering her landing, before the Turk had a chance to react. He did not have to, as the last troope__r was guarding the exit._

_"Cloud!" the flower girl ran up to the tank, which went completely still the moment the young man submerged in it._

_Tseng jumped down just in time to see hands suddenly flailing upwards, above the surface of the water and then hitting it back again, as if struggling with something. He watched Aeris try to evade them, as they splashed the water around. Then everything went still again._

_Aeris, with water dripping down her hair and face, hands submerged in the water, watched mesmerized as the surface broke again around Cloud, as the young man sat up, talking a deep breath, his glowing blue eyes wide with panic reflected in them._

_"Cloud?" she asked, reaching out. The man drew away from her in a flash, wide eyes resembling those of an animal cornered. He put the whole width of the container between them, seeking security, blue orbs scanning the area for danger. "Cloud, Cloud, it's Aeris. I'm a friend, I won't hurt you, I'm…"_

"_Zack's girlfriend," a soft voice finished for her and the young man was apparently as astonished he said something as she was. Shocked, Aeris could only nod in confirmation, even if it technically was not true anymore. He was confused, scared, that much was plain and she had to get him out of here, out of the __Turks reach, if only to see how well exactly he was._

_-_

Zack could hardly believe his eyes. Cloud. Cloud breathing normally, standing there and looking, **looking **at him, focusing on the black hair and Buster Sword, the uniform, taking in Zack's whole entity. Focused. Focused meant conscious, and conscious meant….

"Cloud…" he rasped, still unable to fully believe, but the blonde smiled slightly, that small, shy tug on his lips that the ex-Soldier knew oh, so well. It was a miracle.

-

_Cloud noticed the men, the uniform one wore and what the other held. Had they come to get him out? Where was he? No, one was pointing at Aeris…and Aeris was good. He remembered her voice, it was warm and soft and…_

_He had to keep her safe. Zack would want that. But he couldn't keep her safe. Maybe…he could just…_

_Cloud jumped out of the container, his soggy clothes clinging to his thin frame, and walked closer to the girl._

"_You, hands up." One trooper ran down and came up close to Cloud, waving his gun in the blonde's face. That was a basic mistake, Cloud's jumbled mind supplied with a foreign voice._

_Closing in on the trooper, Cloud grabbed the gun, pointing it upwards at the same time aiming a kick at his adversary's stomach. Blue eyes widened as the uniform-clad body flew away like a rag doll, leaving the machine gun in the surprised blonde's hand. Not one to waste the advantage, he pointed it at Tseng. He wasn't sure why. All he knew was that this was Aeris beside him and he had to buy her time, so she could escape._

_"Don't move." He felt like his whole body was shaking violently, the colors swirling in front of his eyes, brighter, deeper, the sounds assaulting his ears with each note. As confusion settled deep within his bones, within his mind where he had no chance to fight it, the adrenaline and fear came battling the other growing, overwhelming emotions._

_Cloud saw Aeris scramble to her feet again and move closer. Tseng did not even blink, watching him with newfound interest, while the one standing trooper shook with fear._

_They walked together, close, always facing the enemy, gun pointed, finger on the trigger. Only at the last moment the Turk lashed out with a bolt at Cloud, who, pushing his companion to one side, __deflecting to the other. _

_He should have fallen, he knew that, but somehow as Cloud was gaining momentum, his hand shot up fast enough, and it had never been fast enough before, he knew that, to give support. From that, coming back into an attack stance was childishly easy with all the training drilled into him._

_The second trooper charged then, apparently using the commotion to take his aim. A few well-aimed bullets stopped the man and Cloud did not have the time to marvel at how adrenaline allowed him to hold the gun steady with just one hand. Instead, he pointed the gun at Tseng again._

_"Don't." He repeated, "Don't try this again." They were close enough to the exit, that Cloud could easily grab her and make a run for it._

_Cloud finally slid down and jumped, which put him suddenly less that a meter away from Zack and Aeris. The soldier could not help his spreading grin, when he moved to embrace the younger man tightly. He was mindful of how fragile normal people were to the mako-enhanced ones, but he still held Cloud as closely and tightly as he could without possibly injuring the man._

_-_

_Cloud never considered himself especially gifted with endurance, even if he could compare speed with the best of them. Troopers, that is. Still he managed to run through the streets, tugging Aeris behind by her wrist mercilessly until she shouted for a stop, completely winded. _

_They did rest, hidden in a small alley full of shadows and broken machinery with littler covering the ground._

_"Think we're safe now?" the girl asked and he could only shrug._

_"I'd go further."_

_Aeris nodded, her breath still erratic._

_"Just a little slower, okay?"_

_-_

Cloud was awake. Cloud was really awake.

It seemed he was both awake and as strong as ever, his hold on Zack tight. Or perhaps he just missed his friend too and Zack simply had an overactive imagination.

"Oh, Spike, I'm so fuckin' glad to see you!" Only now was it really hitting him how slowly, so slowly he did not notice it really, hope had leaked out of him that he would ever talk to Cloud again.

"Zack." The blonde's one-word sentence was so full of relief.

-

'_Slower' did not mean not running. It meant running at her pace, not his. Finally they stopped at a small playground between sectors. There was a slide there, a couple of swings, a sandbox, yet none of it looked really used: just old and worn with age. As if children forgot this place existed or what it should be used for._

_Cloud looked a little lost himself there, just standing in the middle, unsure, confused about so many things with so many random thoughts running through his brain._

_"Cloud?" the blonde almost jumped at the voice, then turned to look at the girl, who stood there, half a step behind. His wide, confused blue eyes met her green, strangely calm ones._

_"You're really Aeris?"_

_"Yes. Zack used to tell me a lot about you. Like what you preferred to eat and how you trained more than any trooper he knew. How he started helping whenever he had the time to spare."_

_"Used to?" It was really the only thing he registered. "Used to? Is he…?" His voice was panicked and he knew that, but Cloud could not help it. Zack…Zack…_

_"I…calm down, Cloud. He's here, in Midgar, only working." She took his hand in the two of hers and it felt strangely familiar, so he let her tug him along in the direction of the slide, "Come on, sit (there) with me."_

_The young man followed hesitantly to find his place on top of the slide. Aeris smelled like flowers and warm earth and it calmed him, again something seemingly familiar._

_"We're in Midgar…" he said quietly._

_"Yes. Do you know how you came here?"_

_A glitch in front of his eyes, like a lighting suddenly striking in front of his face morphed into a pain behind the blue orbs. Cradling his head, Cloud tried blocking the light, feeling like his head might burst any moment._

_"Shhhh……shhhh…I'm sorry, Cloud, I won't ask."_

_He was suddenly aware that he had his head resting on Aeris' knees and her hand was soothing his spiked hair. "I'm sorry, do you feel better?"_

_Blue eyes blinked at her owlishly until Cloud decided that pride and embarrassment at his present predicament were well worth risking sitting up. He gingerly straightened and looked at his companion, who kept smiling serenely._

"_Yeah, thanks." Cloud nudged the slide with his foot, aching all over, feeling awkward, nauseous, and inadequate. And scared, most of all he felt scared. He was in Midgar and did not know how he came here from Nibelheim, Shinra was looking for him. Zack was not here and he could not remember so many things, so many facts Cloud knew he should know, it made his head spin._

"_Aeris?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Can you…tell me how I got here?" Showing weak points to the enemy was bad, he knew, but somehow he also knew that this girl was truly Aeris and would not hurt him. If anything, he trusted Zack and his judgment._

"_Zack came to my house with you. You were …ill." He heard the hesitation in her voice and did not understand the reason. He was better now, wasn't he? Did he say or do anything in the time he did not remember? "That's probably why you can't recall coming here."_

"_Zack's…"_

_"He's good. He's working, but I guess we could go to his arrival point and wait there for him."_

_Cloud nodded and was about to hop off, when a noise made him turn his head. It was the sound of a rapidly approaching man, running at top __speed. Cloud watched the entrance, where the stranger would soon appear, half hiding Aeris behind himself. When the man came into the view, he slowed down considerably, keeping his gaze even at the two silhouettes on the slide._

"_Cloud…" the man breathed a sigh of relief mixed with wonder and complete surprise, when his violet-blue eyes met with Cloud's sky-like ones. "Cloud?"_

_-_

"Zack!" Aeris slid down easily, while Cloud was stuck on the construction, looking at his best friend for the first time in a very long while without any barrier between them.

Finally, the black haired swordsman made himself let go of his friend, only to smile sheepishly at the girl standing near them, "Sorry, beautiful."

Aeris merely smiled and waved them off.

"Don't mind me."

"Zack…Shinra. Shinra was chasing us." Cloud babbled before he even thought about it, panic, nervousness and the need for some reassurance, an instinct that made him believe that Zack could, would make everything okay again making him sputter the words.

Violet eyes flickered to Aeris, who nodded her confirmation.

"It's okay, Cloud. They won't get us this time. We're both alright and that's what is important, right? We'll be fine, you'll see. I mean, for all the ice of Shiva, who could stop the two of us together?"

A shy smile, one nervous and unsure of its rightful place found its way onto Cloud's lips again. That was all Zack needed for now.

The three of them stood there, when the gate opened and a colorful cart drawn by a half starved, dusty yellowish chocobo rolled in. The watched with mild interest as it turned towards the Wall Market. Only when he saw the girl clad in a mini skirt standing at the back of the cart, holding the rail, did Zack react, once again proving what Cloud used to tell him quite often – that his tongue worked faster than his brain.

"Tifa?!"

* * *

um...runs off

Comments are love!


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